 HUNTER’S
SPECIALTIES’ PHD GOBBLERS
The Textbook Turkey, PhD
EDITOR’S NOTE: Any turkey hunter who tells you
he knows everything about taking a turkey will lie to
you about something else. Turkey hunting is a continuing-education
program. Every spring you learn more than you have the
spring before. There are several ways to learn the sport
of turkey hunting, including videos, television shows,
books, magazine articles and newspaper articles. But
the very-best way to learn how to hunt a turkey are
from the turkeys themselves, especially the PhD gobblers
that know as much about the hunters who hunt them, as
the hunters know about the turkeys they are trying to
take. I’ve just completed my fifth turkey-hunting
book, “Hunter’s Specialties’ PhD Gobblers.”
In the book I’ve interviewed some of the greatest
turkey hunters in the nation - the Hunter’s Specialties’
Pros - and each pro tells us about three different gobblers
and what they’ve learned from these PhD gobblers.
For the next few days, you can read excerpts from the
book. You can buy the book from us by calling (205)
967-3830 or emailing us at john7185@bellsouth.net
for $24.95 each plus $4 shipping and handling. I’ll
sign and date the book for you if you’ll send
a check or a money order for $28.95 each or use PayPal-
john7185@bellsouth.net.
 As
a youngster, J.R. Keller grew up in Delta, Colorado,
and acquired a love for the outdoors from his father
as he fished, hunted and camped with him. Through the
years, Keller found a passion for turkey hunting that
would consume most of his free time and lead him to
become an avid turkey caller and competition caller.
Keller entered his first calling contest in 1985 and
won four Colorado State Junior Turkey Calling titles.
Too, J.R. won the Utah Open Turkey Calling Championship
twice and the 2000 Colorado Western Slope Elk and Open
competitions. He still competes to better his calling
ability as a competition caller and also to sharpen
his skills as a top-notch hunter. An active member of
the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation, Keller travels the country conducting
seminars and sharing his knowledge and experiences with
other hunters and outdoor enthusiasts as a member of
the Hunter’s Specialties’ Pro Team. Keller
excels in the teaching process and particularly enjoys
teaching young hunters the importance of safety, hunting
ethics and the skills necessary to preserve the great
sport to which he’s dedicated himself. Keller’s
philosophy is that knowledge is the most-important piece
of equipment you can take in the woods, particularly
if you hunt toms that have their PhDs.
 “When
I was hunting in Texas a few years ago, I thought I’d
have a typical turkey hunt, strictly by the textbook,
except that it was my first time to ever hunt in Texas,”
Keller explains. “In Texas, the land was more
open than where I usually hunted, and the turkeys roosted
in mesquite flats and mesquite trees. The night before
the hunt, I went out and roosted a turkey. I was convinced
I had that turkey nailed to a tree. I’d studied
the terrain, thought about how I could get close to
the turkey the next morning before daylight and decided
I’d have no trouble taking him.
“I got up early the next morning and started
sneaking toward the tree where my gobbler was roosted.
I passed another roost tree and spooked a tom because
I hadn’t seen where that turkey had flown up the
previous evening. When that turkey flew out of his tree,
he spooked the turkey in the tree that I was planning
on hunting. I’d been so focused on reaching the
turkey I’d roosted the night before that I wasn’t
looking for any other turkeys in any of the trees near
my gobbler’s roost tree. I finally took the turkey
I’d intended to take in the morning, late in the
afternoon.
 “From
the Textbook Turkey, PhD, I’ve learned to:
* “not leave the woods after I’ve seen one
turkey fly-up when I’m roosting turkeys. I need
to stay there until I’ve heard or seen all the
other turkeys in the area fly up.
* “assume other turkeys always may be in the area
where I’m hoping to hunt. Look and listen for
turkeys as you go to the gobbler you’ve roosted
the previous night.
* “never think a turkey hunt will be as simple
or as easy as the textbook says it will be. “With
the Textbook PhD Gobbler, I assumed that since I’d
roosted the turkey, seen him fly up to the roost and
selected the route I needed to travel to get to my calling
site, all I’d have to do was to reach my calling
site the next morning before daylight, take a stand
there, make a few calls, let the gobbler fly off the
roost to me, shoot the bird and get back to camp before
the bacon had quit frying. That’s the way a textbook
turkey hunt should be. But I relearned from this PhD
gobbler that very rarely would a turkey hunt happen
the way the textbook on turkeys said a hunt should.
I realized that when I hunted turkeys, I needed to expect
the unexpected and change and adapt my turkey hunting
to the terrain and the birds I encountered. Very rarely
would I ever go right to a turkey that was gobbling
from the roost, call him straight to me and return to
camp in a short time.”
TOMORROW: MR. ON–THE-MOVE-GOBBLER,
PHD
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